Amid a flurry of diplomatic activity to promote normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Ambassador to Jordan Nayef al-Sudairi has presented his credentials as non-resident Ambassador to Palestine and Consul General in Jerusalem. With the submission of the credentials to President Mahmoud Abbas's diplomatic adviser, Majdi al-Khalidi, al-Sudairi has became the first Saudi Ambassador to the Palestinian Authority.
Abbas is currently focusing on a tripartite summit that He will convene in Al Alamein in Egypt with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and King Abdullah of Jordan. Over the last three weeks, much has been happening in the Palestinian diplomatic arena including a meeting under the auspices of Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan between Abbas and the head of the Hamas political bureau of Ismail Haniyeh, and a summit of the heads of the Palestinian factions in Egypt, as well as a meeting between Abbas and King Abdullah of Jordan in Amman.
Internal Palestinian politics is undergoing upheaval after Abbas fired nine governors in Judea and Samaria and four in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. But while the Palestinian Authority chairman removed the governors of Jenin, Bethlehem, Hebron, Kalkilya and Tulkarm from their positions, he kept the governor of his capital region Ramallah and al-Bira in place.
Meanwhile, former Egyptian ambassador to Washington Nabil Fahmy has expressed skepticism on Israel-Saudi Arabia normalization in an article for the "Al-Arabiya" network, which is owned by Saudi MBC Group. He believes that without a solution to the Palestinian issue, there is no real possibility of peace between Riyadh and Jerusalem. According to him, Riyadh still stands behind the peace initiative they proposed to the Arab League in 2002, and reaffirmed in 2007, in which Arab countries would establish full relations with Israel subject to the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 13, 2023.
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